Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Cal Ripken, Jr.: Baseball's Most Famous Streaker

Episode Date: September 7, 2020

Yesterday was the 25th Anniversary of Cal Ripken, Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played streak. Ripken was our host's favorite player growing up -- and still is his all-time favorite player -- so D.C. takes the opportunity to talk about Ripken's career and streak on today's program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Hey, gang, hope you're having a great Labor Day. This is D.C. Lundberg here with the Monday edition of Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on podcast network, or T-L-O-P-N for short or for even shorter. Of course, say it with me, gang. Tlopin! Please remember to download, rate, subscribe to this program on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use.

Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariners podcast or any of the other programs here on the Locked-on Podcast Network. Follow us on Twitter at L-O-U-U-U-N-R-R-G and follow me on Twitter as well at D.C. underscore Lundberg, L-U-N-D-B-E-R-G, for those scoring at home. Different kind of Locked-on Mariners here for you today, ladies and gentlemen. we will recap the four-game series with the Texas Rangers on tomorrow's program. So far, the Mariners have won three in a row, and as I'm recording this, have a 2-0 lead on the Rangers, so we may be talking about a sweep tomorrow, or at least for you guys to say again, mine too.

I sincerely hope that that is the case. We are going to talk about a legend of the game today as yesterday, September 6th, is the 25th anniversary of Cal Ripkin Jr., breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played streak. Cal Ripkin Jr. is my all-time favorite player, ladies and gentlemen, and on September 6th, 1995, Ripkin surpassed Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played streak, playing in his 21st. Ripkin was, you know, kind of a prototype for the larger short stops that started to pop up

around baseball at that time. He was originally a third baseman, came up as a third baseman. he had such a good arm that the Orioles wanted to draft him as a pitcher. They obviously didn't, and it worked out pretty well for both sides, if I do say. His streak started on May 30th, 1982. Prior to that, he had played in 22 straight games before taking one day off, which was the second game of a double header. So if there was no double header that day, or let's say he plays both games,

the streak would have been broken three weeks or so sooner. I'm sorry that my voice did that, ladies and gentlemen. Anyways, I know I've said it on this show before. Ripkin's my all-time favorite player. When I really started to get into baseball at the tail end of the 1995 season, that was when he was just about to break Lou Gehrig streak,

or maybe he had already done it. I actually don't remember. I remember more the hoopla at the beginning of the 1996 season, quite honestly, for whatever reason. it was kind of a more or less kind of a victory tour, or at least that's how it seemed if you would watch a Mariners game against the Baltimore Orioles early in the 1996 season.

Or not even early in the season. Throughout the whole season, they would talk about it, what it meant to the game, what it meant to the Baltimore Orioles. And also in that 1996 season, Eddie Murray was chasing 500 home runs. And there was a chance he was going to do that against the Seattle Mariners in Camden Yards. Wound up not have any of Nakey's back to Calrican Jr.

They obviously did. talk about the streak a lot during the TV broadcast of the All-Star game in 1996, and I believe he played seven, seven or so innings that day. That was also his last All-Star game as a shortstop. He shifted over to third base at the beginning of the 1997 season when the Orioles signed Mike Bordock to play shortstop, and Ripkin was originally hesitant. But when he found out that Bordock was going to be his successor, he said, yeah, he's a better shortstop than me. He's an excellent defender. I will gladly seed my position to him. Ripkin's career numbers, by the way,

he played in 3,001 total games, has a lifetime slash line of 276, 447, 434 home runs, 3,184 hits. His 3,000th hit came in Minnesota, I want to say, in 1999, in the Metrodome. And he is, he's one of the few with 3,000 hits and 400 home runs. and among players with 3,000 or more hits, I believe he has the lowest batting average at 276, as I mentioned. He never really had a league leader-type season.

He led the league in a few different offensive categories in 1983, though, led the league with 211 hits that season, 121 runs scored, and 47 doubles. So I guess he did have at least one league leader-type season, his age 22. season in 1983, as I mentioned, all 162 games played, was the MVP, the year after being rookie of the year. He'd win another MVP in 1991, where he slashed 323, 374, 566. 46, 46 doubles for him that season and 34 home runs among his 210 total hits. Back to his first MVP season, 1983. Slash line of 318, 371, 517, those 47 doubles that I mentioned, to go along with 27 home runs, and those 121, 21 runs scored, led the league. Silver Slugger Award winner multiple times,

eight of them to be exact, two gold gloves, those two MVP awards, rookie of the year in 1982, World Series champion in 1983 with the Baltimore Orioles, and a 19-time All-Star, And get this, ladies and gentlemen, his 1982 rookie of the year season, in which he played in 160 games, missed two of them, slash line of 264, 317, 475, placed in the MVP voting, and he wasn't an All-Star. 32 doubles and 28 home runs among his 158 hits that season. That was his only full season in which he did not make the All-Star team.

19 All-Star games, as I mentioned, final one coming in Safeco Field in Seattle in 2001, where he hit a home run in his first at bat off Chanho Park, and he had already announced his retirement. He had already said that was going to be his last season. The previous two seasons, kind of injury-filled seasons, 86 games played in 1999, 83 and 2000, in his age 38 and 39 seasons respectively.

2001, I don't remember if he had injury problems or not that year, but he did get the occasional day off here and there, 128 games played, 239, 276, 361 slash line for Ripkin that season. And from 1997, through the end of his career, I attended every single Baltimore Orioles game that took place in Seattle. So I was obviously at the last game that he played in Seattle. as at the entire last series. And that was another sort of victory tour. It was a farewell tour

that he was given by the various teams at the away stadiums. As he played his final series in those stadiums, and a lot of teams gave him different gifts. And the Mariners' gifts were very unique and very Pacific Northwest. One of them, which was really cool, was a Mariners jersey

with his name and number eight on the back, signed by the, the whole team and presented to him by the Mariners number eight that season, Carlos Gien. They gave him another gift that I don't remember and the one that kind of got a chuckle out of the crowd and this is the one with the very northwest touch to it. A year's supply of dungeness crab, which is pretty cool to be, to be honest. I think the Tampa Bay Devil Rays gave him a very expensive car whose total value exceeded their payroll at that time, but that's neither here nor there.

Cal Ripkin Jr. did retire after that 2001 season. Again, Lifetime 276, 340, 447 slash line. 431 home runs, 603 doubles, 3,184 hits. And first ballot Hall of Famer, obviously, with the late Tony Gwynn, who was also an All-Star in 2001, but an honorary All-Star. He wasn't named to the team. He wasn't put on the team. but the commissioner, I think it was, or the National League president,

allowed him to go to that game because he had also announced his retirement prior to the game. And he and Ripkin were kind of honored in a mid-game ceremony after Ripkin was pulled from the game and replaced by Troy Gloss of the Anaheim Angels. And Ripkin was the All-Star Game MVP that year, his second All-Star Game MVP. Going to talk about him breaking the streak and kind of a couple of games leading up to it, or at least the game leading up to it and then the game itself.

In the second half of today's program, before any of that takes place, though, of course, the Mariners trivia question. Going to be about Ripkin, going to tie it in with the Mariners. Cal Ripkin Jr.'s first hit against the Seattle Mariners did not come until his first full season, 1982, after a cup of coffee, right after the players' strike ended in 1980. He played sparingly from August through September in 1981. His first hit against the Mariners, as I said, didn't come until May 13, 1982. Who was the pitcher who gave up that hit?

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Once again, get Roman.com slash locked on MLB. Okay, glad that's over. Answer to the Mariners trivia question against whom did Cal Ripkin Jr. get his first hit against the Seattle Mariners. That would be Jim Beattie. In the top of the fourth inning, it was a single off Jim Beattie on May 13, 1982, a three-to-one victory against those Seattle Mariners. If you have a question or comment, do send it to Lockedon Mariners at gmail.com,

and I will read your email on the air and reply to it. Questions or comment on anything. It need not be baseball-related. Locked on Mariners, Gmail.com. the email address. Locked-on Mariners will be back in a jiff. Welcome to the second half of Locked-on Mariners. Here once again is your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you, J.M. Locked-on Mariner's celebration of Calerican Jr. continues at this time.

Kind of went over his career at large in the first part of the program. And in the second half, I'm going to talk about the game in which he tied the streak, the game in which he broke the streak, and then him finally sitting out in 1998. September 5th is the day that he tied Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played streak at 213. It was in Baltimore and the Major League Schedule Makers, I think made sure that this was going to be the case. And if you want to see what would have happened, where he may have broken the streak, if the 1994-195 player strike never happened, go back and listen to a series of shows that I did in April or May,

just at the very beginning of the entire pandemic virus shutdown. I did a whole series of shows trying to project out what would have happened if that streak never took place. And I talked about Cal Ripkin Jr. On one or two of them, I forget exactly which ones, but go back in the archives and listen to those. In any case, he tied the streak on Tuesday, September 5th, 1995, against the California Angels in Camden Yards.

and the Orioles, pardon me, were lucky that the angels were not very good at that time. They had built up a pretty big lead in the Western Division and then absolutely just squandered it in September as the Mariners were getting hot. The Angels were, well, they lost 8 to nothing that day, only accumulated three hits. Tony Phillips, the late Tony Phillips, J.T. Snow, and Tim Salmon accumulating those three hits.

Well, the Orioles, yeah, they went off. They hit five home runs that day, and yes, Cal Ripkin Jr. hit one of them. It was in the sixth inning. It was a solo home run off Mark Holzimer, who would later pitch for the Seattle Mariners. Also going deep that day for the Baltimore Orioles, Jeff Mantow, who would also later play for the Mariners. This was an 8-0 win, as I said, for the Baltimore Orioles. And the next game, September 6th, 1995, another win for the Baltimore Orioles.

This time, a 4-2 victory. And, of course, Cal doing it again, another home run, this one off Sean Bosque, who used to pitch for the Mariners. So there's a lot of Mariners involved in these two games, especially since California needed these games. If they would have won either one of them, they would have won the West, and they would have not had to have, the Mariners in that one-game playoff. So these were very, very important baseball games,

obviously for Cal Ripkin Jr. and his streak, but they were more important to the Baltimore, pardon me, to the California Angels as a team because they needed these. They needed these games to win the Western Division outright, which turned out to be monumentally important, since they lost that tiebreaker, especially in the fashion in which they lost it. In addition to Lou Gehrig's streak, Ripkin set the international record, on June 14th, 1996. Sachi Elkino Saga had played in 2,215 games in a row in Nippon Pro Baseball. And Cal Ripkin Jr. played his 2,216th game on June 14th, 1996.

This was a game that took place in Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, a 6-1 victory by the Baltimore Orioles. However, Ripkin did go 0 for 4. Ripkin finally sat out a game on September 20th, 19th. playing third base in Cal's stead that day was Ryan Minor and his streak of 2,632 consecutive games came to an end. I also want to take a minute, ladies and gentlemen, to remember the great Lou Brock, who passed away yesterday at the age of 81, about a week after the legendary Tom Seaver passed away. Lou Brock also a slam dunk Hall of Famer at one point held the Major League

record for stolen bases. Ricky Henderson broke the record from him, pardon me, in 1991. Lou Brock stole 938 bases in his career, led the league in that category eight times with a season high in 1974 of an astounding 118. He stole 50 or more bases 12 times. That is huge. Had a career slash line of 293. 343, 410, 3,023 hits, 486 doubles, 141 triples, and 149 home runs. He has a 20 home run season, 1967 in which he hit 21 home runs. He could hit. He was obviously more than just a one-dimensional player who could run the base as well.

He had to be on base a lot to set a stolen base record, 19-year major league. career played up until his age 40 season in which he slashed 304, 342, 398. So the power wasn't there anymore, but he was still a reliable contact hitter at that point. May the All-Star team, as a matter of fact, that year. Six-time All-Star two World Series championships elected to the Hall of Fame in 1985, and he was a part of one of the most infamous trades in baseball history. On June 15th, 1964, the Chicago Cubs sent him to the Cardinals, along with two other players, for Ernie Broleo and two other players. Ernie Broleo was really thought to be the big piece in that deal at the time for both teams.

He was a veteran pitcher who had had a very good career with the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Cubs needed pitching help, and they didn't feel as if Lou Brock was living up to his potential. Yeah, he took off with the Cardinals. had a fabulous major league career. Hall of Fame, as we said, while Ernie Broleo and the Cubs didn't exactly work out too well, he had an ERA of 5.40, which in that day and age is really high. So that trade was a bust for the Cubs, absolutely a golden trade for the Cardinals. And again, one of the most infamous trades in baseball history.

So Lou Brock passing away yesterday at the age of 81, born June 18th, 1939 in El Dorado, Arkansas. I'm going to end on that somber note today, ladies and gentlemen. We'll be back tomorrow talking about the four-game series against the Texas Rangers. And the way today's ballgame is going, I'd be surprised if I'm not talking about a sweep. Joining me to talk about what I hope is a sweep

will be Officer Frank Smith, Hoots the Owl, and a doorknob. Please remember to download rate and subscribe to this program so you never miss an episode particularly this one. That's an excellent panel. Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, any podcasting out that pops into your head. Look for us there.

Follow us on Twitter as well at L.O. underscore Mariners and follow me on Twitter at D.C. underscore Lundberg. Thank you for listening to today's celebration of Cal Ripkin Jr. and history. I'll talk to you tomorrow. This is Joey Martin saying join us back here next time for another edition of Lodbynian. Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.